APPENDIX D
VERBAL SPELLING GUIDE
Perhaps you’ve heard the old story about the woman who moved from Iowa to a small town in Connecticut. Anxious to fit in with the locals, she listened for colloquial phrases. One day she overheard two farmers discussing high prices. “It cost me a nominal egg,” the first farmer complained. For months, she used this phrase when talking to friends and family members, never quite sure just what “a nominal egg” was. Finally, the cashier at the local checkout counter asked her what she meant.
“Why, isn’t that something you people say around here?”
“No,” replied the cashier with a puzzled look. Then her face broke out into a smile. “Not,” she said, speaking slowly and carefully, “unless you mean, ‘It cost me an arm and ...
Get Great Customer Service on the Telephone now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
